Facts About Bells. The Philosophy of Weight and Sound Discussed.

Te Aroha News, Volume IV, Issue 172, 2 October 1886, Page 3

Facts About Bells. The Philosophy of Weight and Sound Discussed.

Thb nature of the country has much to do with the sound of bells. In a hilly locality a bell will not be hoard half ao far off a8 if the land were level or nearly so. A bell will be heard a great deal further lengthwise of a valley than over the hills at the eidee. Where bell rooirs are lower than the surrounding buildings and trees, these obstructions break the sound and prevent its free passage to a distance. Towers having small windows or openings, with the lower boards close together, often box up the sound. In cities, the noise of steam and horse cars, manufacturing establishments, carriages and carts rattling over the pavements, etc,, is ao great that the bells are not expected to be heard at any considerable distance, and this is the reason why, in all cities, several bells ara used for fire alarm purposes, it being impossible for one bell, no matter how large it may be, to be heard above the thousand and one noises incident to every large place. It is said that the largest bell ever made in this country weighed 22.00 Q pounds, and before it was fractured hung on the City Hall in New xork. On one or two occasions this bell was heard up the Hudson River thirteen miles, in the night, when the city was comparatively quiet. It ia a great mistake | to suppose that bells can be heard in proportion to their weight— that is, a bell of 2,000 pounds will be heard twice as far as one of 1,000 pounds. This is not co, for the reason that the larger bell does not poseaa anything like twice the resonant surface of the smaller one. What is gained and admired in the larger bell is its deep, majestic and dignified tone which it ia impossible to secure in the smaller one, the weight of a bell invariably governing its tone. A bell of 100 or 200 pounds, in an open belfry, or an engine-house, a school house, or a tactory in the country, is frequently heard at a long distance, out of proportion, apparently, to one of 1,000 pounds in a church tower near by, and instances of this kind frequently cause no little comment in the way of comparision. One reason for this is that the small bell has a sharp, shrill, penetrating sound that must, of necessity, be heard a great deal further, in proportion to its weight, than the low, church-going sound of the church bell. The same principle applies to the whistle of a locomotive, and it is heard a long distance, simply because its tone is shrill and penetrating. When hung stationary, and struck or tolled, bells will not be heard, as a rule, half so far as when swung. The awinging motion throws up the mouth of the bell, and not only carries the sound off, but imparts to it a richness that is always absent when the bell ia at rest and struck. A great deal is to be gained by ringing a bell properly, throwing the mouth well up and not lazily jingling it. It is not physical strength that is required in ringing a bell so much as *' getting the knack " of catching the rope just right, particularly on the •' down pull " The windows in the tower should be as open as possible and the tower ceiled just above the windows.